I spent a week in mid-May lurking outside my usual areas, attending DOXA films downtown. In my peregrinations, I noticed a little bakery on Davie Street with an unusual name. Intrigued, I ventured in and discovered European baking of a kind I had not seen before. I'll add a couple of pictures as these tasty towers are kind of hard to describe, and include one of the spindles they are baked on.

They are sweet but not too sweet, with a hint of lemon zest and crushed walnuts (?) on the outside. At $5 a pop, they are the perfect accompaniment to a fine cup of coffee or tea, and go surprisingly far. They are also fun to eat at you grab a piece and unravel them. The proprietor is most welcoming and knowledgeable.

Stop by and pick up a KK if you are nearby, though they do sell out so try to come earlier if you can (they are open quite late in the summer). Their slightly confusing website is here: http://transylvaniantraditions.com/in... with more pix of the kurtos and their other wares.

We were here after a tasty lunch at Thai Basil around the corner. We tried their chocolate rum cake, nuga and biscuit salami. We liked the nuga and biscuit salami the best. We saw those cones as well. So many things to try out next time we're in the area.

I am a huge fan of these as well (i believe the name loosely translates to chimney cake). A small tip - i have been told that they make these at 1pm so if you want your hottest, freshest, crispiest kurtos kalacs, early afternoon is a good time to be there.

I've been addicted to Transylvanian's kurtos kalacs for the last couple of years. I've heard that we're the only place in Western Canada that has a bakery that makes them - we're so fortunate!

They truly are the perfect snack. Not too sweet, but with a touch of tanginess. They don't taste heavy like croissants or many other kinds of pastries. And they're fun to eat! You slowly peel them off the top like a ribbon all the way to the bottom.

The cozonac (same dough as KK I think) they make around Christmas is a real treat.